Cover bands need not apply

Above: Pan Tai in Wilmington last Thursday during its new acoustic music night.

For more than 20 years, Sydney’s Blues & Jazz Restaurant was the crown jewel for fans of original music in Rehoboth Beach, booking regional and national acts and luring some famous music-hungry vacationers, like actors Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes and basketball legend Michael Jordan.

But in 2006, owner Sydney Arzt sold the restaurant because, as she said, “After 20 years of nights up until 3 or 4 a.m., I realized that if I didn’t do something I was going to fall over in that building and that would be it.”

Earlier this month, Arzt and the blues resurfaced in the resort area with the launch of Sydney’s Music Revival – a monthly night of blues and jazz at Bethany Blues, in Lewes. Even though it had been nearly four years since Sydney’s closed, Bethany Blues was packed for a performance by Scranton, Pa., bluesman Clarence Spady and the Elwood Bishop Band.

“I wake up every morning with a new sense of excitement because I have an opportunity that has been missing for the last four years,” said Arzt, who hosted acts like blues singer Shemekia Copeland and jazz saxophonist Gerald Albright at her old club. “The night with Clarence Spady was like a grand reunion for so many people that I haven’t had the opportunity to see. When I sold the restaurant, that’s one thing I never realized: Where was I going to see all these people who had become friends for over 20 years?”

Bethany Blues, which will feature Joe Baione Jazz Quintet on Feb. 12, is one of several spots across Delaware shifting to original music, giving that scene a boost during the winter, before the popular cover bands reclaim the state’s biggest stages this summer.

The biggest move towards original music can be found at Kelly’s Logan House in Wilmington. Over the past four years, Trolley Square’s Logan House has hosted more cover bands than ever before, filling the void following the closure of Kahunaville in 2006 and the city’s other cover band-friendly stage at The Colosseum, on Union Street.

But now that the Union Street location has reopened as The Funkey Monkey, focusing on high-energy cover bands like Kristen and the Noise, Burnt Sienna and Mr. Greengenes, Logan House general manager Drew Davis is turning back to original music.

Kelly’s upstairs stage is now hosting original acts about 80 percent of the time. With that move, the bar reduced its cover charge to $3 on most weekend nights; it had been between $5 and $10.

“The cover band scene was never really our thing and probably never will be,” said Davis, who is now packing his music schedule with local, regional and national acts like Jeffrey Gaines, The Future Unwritten, The Bullbuckers and Spokey Speaky. “We tried to be all things to all people.”

As part of the change, Philadelphia power pop rockers IKE have announced a residency at the Logan House on the final Friday of each month, pairing John Faye’s band with another local act for a night of music hosted by Mark Rogers, host of WSTW’s “Hometown Heroes” program. It begins next Friday with the Wilmington indie pop/rock act Bos Taurus (former members of The Knobs) opening.

In Wilmington’s Little Italy area, Pan Tai’s upstairs bar is home to another new series of acoustic acts on Thursday nights. Usually, an informal, open jam ends the night.

The foray into live tunes for the cozy spot has already paid off, said Jimmy Cyphers, manager of Pan Tai. Not only does the music bring in a crowd on a weeknight, but it’s bringing in plenty of new faces.

“I heard that there were like 10 people up there who had never been there before,” Cyphers said of last week’s show with Wilmington singer/songwriter James Dukenfield, which drew an unusually large Thursday night audience. “It is really drawing a crowd that under normal circumstances wouldn’t have come up.”

The nearby Blue Parrot Bar & Grille, which has always been home to original music, is adding a rock night on Tuesdays, while devoting the rest of the week to blues and jazz.

It’s the first time owner Mark Diamond has opened his doors to straight-up rock bands, dubbing the night “Damn the Man Tuesdays” with Tom Ewing of Count von Count booking the night.

So while area music fans salivate, awaiting the 2011 opening of a new World Cafe Live at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, there are several new venues to hear some original grooves.

As Davis puts it, “The original scene has suffered in the past four or five years, but with The Flash, in Kennett Square, Pa., The Note, in West Chester, Pa., and the World Cafe Live coming downtown, it seems like there’s a growing excitement about original music in the area that I haven’t seen in a while.”

About Ryan Cormier

News Journal features reporter Ryan Cormier throws everything pop culture into a blender and hits frappe. Check out his take on music, movies, celebrities and everything in between. It's what you need to know and a lot more stuff you really don't. Join him on Twitter and Facebook.

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